De Jure and de Facto Determinants of Power: Evidence from Mississippi

Graziella Bertocchi, Arcangelo Dimico,
Sun, 07/22/2012

We evaluate the empirical relevance of de facto vs. de jure determinants of political power in the U.S. South between the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. Our results indicate that de jure voting restrictions reduce black registration but that black disfranchisement starts well before 1890 and is more intense where a black majority represents a threat to the de facto power of white elites.